How to perk up at 3pm without the chocolate bar1:14

Dancer Amrita Hepi shows you how to stretch at your desk.

February 20th 2017

2 years ago

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The research team divided 100 undergraduate business students into two groups and administered each group a 10 question GMAT algebra test in a computer lab. One group took the test in a coffee-like scented room, while the other group took the test in an unscented room.

The results found that the group in the coffee-smelling room scored significantly higher on the test.

The researchers then wanted a deeper explanation into the first group’s boost in quick thinking and increase in alertness.

The team designed a follow-up survey, conducted among more than 200 new participants, and quizzed them on their beliefs about scents and their perceived effects on human performance.

Participants believed they would feel more alert and energetic in the presence of a coffee scent compared to a flower scent or no scent, and thought it would also increase their performance on mental tasks.

These results suggests performance can be explained by personal beliefs that coffee scent alone makes people more alert and energetic. It also suggests a placebo effect of coffee scent.

"It's not just that the coffee-like scent helped people perform better on analytical tasks, which was already interesting," said the study’s lead author Adriana Madzharov.

"But they also thought they would do better, and we demonstrated that this expectation was at least partly responsible for their improved performance."

Madzharov also explained how the study’s findings can be put into practical applications such as businesses.

"Olfaction is one of our most powerful senses.

“Employers, architects, building developers, retail space managers and others, can use subtle scents to help shape employees' or occupants' experience with their environment.”